First international cricket on the Gold Coast and I was there. The weather threatened to wash the match out. And then it stopped raining. What was served up was an intriguing ten over affair between Australia and South Africa.

The venue proved to be more than adequate for cricket. My only gripes were that the PA system wasn’t slightly audible and that the scoreboard on the big screen was woefully updated. I imagine that the BBL and WBBL games on the Gold Coast will be better. Also, a crowd of less than 13,000 was disappointing.

The toss was won by Australia and they decided to bowl first. Chasing in T10 seems far more sensible than trying to work out what a reasonable score should be. Australia’s fielding was exemplary. Stoinis was immense in the field. Maxwell’s juggling catch on the boundary was worth the admission price alone.

Having bowled reasonably and fielded well, it needed a good batting effort to chase down less than two runs a ball. However, shot selection plus Morris’s spell ripped the heart out of the chase. Shamsi proved far too difficult to hit and so the game slipped away. Maxwell proved once again how vital he is to Australia in T20Is but was to no avail.